A list of Remittance Men, or supposed Remittance Men, in New Zealand

The above newspaper cutting was the earliest reference to “Remittance Man” that I could find in New Zealand using Papers Past online archive. It appears to be a rather tongue-in-cheek reference to the stereotypical Remittance Man who lived by the financial seat-of-his-pants, reliant on family back home for an income.

Below you will find a continually evolving list of Remittance Men, or at the very least alleged or self-professed Remittance Men, that I have found in New Zealand records. It is extremely hard to reliably identify a Remittance Man, a remittance agreement was rarely a legal one and no official records exist.

For the family historian, references to remittances paid to overseas family members may be found in, or construed from, Wills. Otherwise, family stories handed down over time may hold clues, or a sudden disappearance from the records in their home country.

If you have a known Remittance Man in your family tree who was sent to New Zealand, please contact me so that I may update the list. By the same token, if you are certain that a person on this list does not belong here, please let me know.

Born 28 February 1865 at Grosmont, Yorkshire. Son of John and Catherine Bailey. His father, John Bailey M.A. was Vicar of St Matthew’s in Grosmont. Arthur boarded at Bedford Grammar (1881 England Census) and went on to be educated at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Arthur disappears from the England Census after the 1881 entry.

The New Zealand newspapers note Arthur as a remittance man, well liked in the community. In the 1905/6 New Zealand Electoral Rolls Arthur is listed as an Accountant living in Omana in Northland. By the time of his death he is known as a gumdigger.

Born Jan-Feb 1895 in Crediton, Devon, UK, to William H and Jane BASSETT. Father is a Clerk in Holy Orders. Has several siblings including Jessie b. abt 1860, Euphemia b. abt. 1862, Margaret J b. abt. 1863, William S b. abt. 1865, Colin S b. abt. 1867, and Arthur C b. abt. 1869. John Cockburn Owen can be found in the UK census for 1861, 1871 and 1881.

Died 9th October, 1921, with Five Pounds to his name. Descendant of Henry VII. Came from a wealthy family whose home was Horseheath Hall in Cambridgeshire. His father was Stanlake Ricketts Batson, and his mother Gertrude Juliana Louisa Lowry-Corry (1831-1874). It appears that, while still under-age “alienated his life interest in order to pay his debts” and withdrew to New Zealand.

In 1890 he married Mary Jane Haseley in Hanover Square, London. In the 1891 census his is listed as a boarder in a house in Vincent Square, London, ‘living on his own means’ with Mary Jane. Mary Jane is mentioned in his probate, see below. Mary Jane died at her home at 13 Roslyn Terrace, Devonport, Auckland, on 1 November 1931. Her death notice mentions a son, Tim Batson.

Ned, the son of a wealthy family from London, was sent to New Zealand c. 1860 having displeased his father by messing about with ‘downstairs staff’ and assaulting a policeman, among other things. Ned, along with his brother Harry who came out to check up on his sibling at the request of their father, embraced hunting and life in the bush and never returned to the UK. They saw out their days in the Hawkes Bay region.

Thomas was born in July 1869, the son of the Reverend Thomas Birkett of Weston-Super-Mare and Jane (?). By 1871 he is living with his family in Bristol. In 1881, age 11, he is at boarding school in Weston-Super-Mare. The next time we find Thomas he is living in Napier, Hawkes Bay, and listed in the 1896 New Zealand Electoral Rolls as a gentleman.

Why did Thomas end up in New Zealand? It appears he came from a well-off family very much involved in the Church, and was well-travelled. His father was a priest, as was his eldest brother, Reverend Arthur Ismail Birkett. Arthur was with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in India from 1887 until his death there, from accidental drowning, in 1916 (Western Daily PRess, Bristol, England – Saturday 9th September, 1916).

1919 – Committed to Home Bay on Rotoroa Island for drunkedness. Had been brought up before the court for such behavior many a time. Rotoroa Island was purchased by the Salvation Army in 1908 to expand their drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme.

The well-educated son of wealthy Liverpool shipping merchant, Septimus Brocklehurst, was found dead in his room at Coker’s Hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand. Harold George Brocklehurst (1874-1900) had shot himself in the head. He left a note at the scene of his death addressed to his solicitor (see below) asking him to notify his family “back home”.

Born in Great Arnwell, Hertfordshire, 24 September, 1877, to Frederic (Colonel in the Royal Artillery) and Lydia. Like his father, Hugh had a military background. Listed in the London Gazette (29 September, 1896) as a Gentleman Cadet from the Royal Military Academy, by 1902 he was a Captain in the Royal Artillery. Come 1909, he is reported in the NZ press as being drunk, dirty and unkempt.

However, Hugh then resumes his military career in 1915 this time as a Private with the New Zealand Infantry Battalion (7th Reinforcements). At the time of enlistment (1915) he was single and his address listed as the Salvation Army People’s Palace in Auckland. His military records list his next of kin as his brother Colonel Charles F. Close, R.E., Army and Navy Club, London, England.

A clue to Joseph’s remittance can be found in his widow mother’s, Sarah Ann Dawber of Hyson Green, Will. She leaves his older brother, James Chapman Dawber, half her estate. The other half is to be held in Trust by said brother to provide a weekly allowance to Joseph of 15s per week.

The eldest son of a wealthy farmer in South Africa (Charles DOWSETT, Esq., of Fauresmith, Orange Free State, South Africa), Charles Henry Dowsett committed suicide with a razor having already lathered his face to shave. He was 30 years old. His brother, Reginald, is also in New Zealand at the time of Charles’ death.

George was born 21 November 1843 in Bentley (Walton Hall), Yorkshire, England, and died 23 October 1920 in New Zealand. He married Mary Hutchinson (b. 20 May 1853, in Birkenhead, Cheshire, Liverpool, England d. 29 August 1937 in Paeroa, New Zealand). They were married 15 November 1875 in Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand and had 11 children.

By all accounts, George was the son of a wealthy family who called Walton Hall, in Yorkshire, England, home. He was yet another who spent time drinking and fratenising with the household staff. The final straw appears to be when, after drinking at the local pub, he picked up his family from church in a carriage which he promptly drove into a ditch.

James was an artist living near Ohiwa Hotel in the eastern Bay of Plenty. He died in July, 1896, found at home with a hammer or hatchet buried in his head. The death was ruled as suicide, although many at the time didn’t believe it to be the case. James’ headstone, found broken in undergrowth near holiday houses, has been restored and re-erected at the nearby Opotiki Cemetery.

Charles was the son of a family with close ties to the Anglican church in the UK. His grandfather was Rev. George Haggitt and his father a farmer of 170 acres in Suffolk (England 1881 Census. Class: RG11; Piece: 1836; Folio: 47; Page: 13; GSU roll: 1341444.). Charles, who was an outdoorsy and adventurous soul, became a self-made businessman in New Zealand after setting up a haulage business near Nelson.

William arrived from Sydney with his wife, Sophie Nicholls, in the mid-1870s. He was a schoolmaster, and often headmaster, but was dismissed from employment on several occasions and even accused of forgery at one point, albeit acquitted. William founded Hauraki Plains College, formerly Orchard School, near Ngatea on the North Island of New Zealand.

Frank Hudson managed to get himself into the New Zealand press on a few occasions. He was found to be gilding sixpences, had been in court for ripping up a petition presented to him on a train, and had stolen and pawned items from a fellow hotel guest. Reports also show that Frank had been treated for alcoholism on three occasions at Rotoroa Island, and was “losing the fight against drink“.

John’s father was John Cale Miller ( b. 11 October,1814 , d. 11th July, 1880 ), Canon of Worcester. John Vaughan Miller worked as a Clerk for the Admiralty at White Hall, London but ended up a farmer in New Zealand. According to the discussion on FamilyTreeCircles

Family left via Gravesend on 7-2-1880 on the Vessel ” Trevelyan , arrived in Lyttelton NZ on 13-5-1880 . He bought 260 acres of Land in Kaiteriteri Nelson in 1882 .

Horatio arrived in 1850 on one of the first four ships to arrive in Lyttelton, Canterbury, with British immigrants. He arrived on the George Seymour. A nephew of Sir Harry Smith Parkes, Horatio lived alone in Christchurch. In January 1897 Horatio was arrested for killing a man, his lodger, with an axe. Horatio pleaded guilty but that it was in self defence. Horatio was let off with ‘justifiable homicide’. He died the following year.

William was the son of brewer Henry Rawcliffe. On his wedding certificate (1879) he is listed as a Gent living at Euxton Hall, a stately estate in the village of Euxton, near Chorley, Lancashire.

William entered Trinity College, Cambridge University, in 1874. On the 3rd May, 1876, he was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in the 23rd Lancashire Artillery Volunteer Corps. He Bessie Macfarline Ramsay on 2 July 1879.

In 1881 and 1891, William is listed as a brewer, working for his father’s company, and is living with his wife and children at Haigh House, a home attached to a large brewery in Haigh, Lancashire. The brewery was founded by the Sumner family, which was related by marriage to the Rawcliffe family (and hence William’s middle name).

In 1900, William appears in the New Zealand Electoral Rolls for Wellington. He is now listed as a clerk. What happened to William in the intervening years? According to newspaper reports of his suicide, his wife and family were back in England. William, a remittance man, had taken to drink and was suffering from the DTs. He died in Wakefield, near Nelson, on the South Island of New Zealand.

UPDATE: Information from a blog reader who stumbled across this ancestor:

“I recently stumbled onto your website and discovered a potted history of an ancestor who was a Remittance Man in New Zealand. His name, William Sumner Rawcliffe. He had a wife and family back in the UK who were well provided for from his families brewing business. In the article there was also a link to an old newspaper article about him which told me a lot I didn’t know.I still don’t know how why or by whom he was sent to New Zealand or who paid the way for him but, I do know he was the father of an illegitimate child by a local farm girl named Ann Churchouse.”

1888 – Known as “Grant” in Oamaru, he led a humble life and was well known and liked for many years. However, it was soon impossible for him to stay anonymous when his father was made 9th Earl of Seafield and “Grant” was then known by his official title, Lord Reidhaven. Not long after, his father died and Lord Reidhaven, being the eldest son, had to leave his beloved Oamaru and return to England to manage the family’s massive estate. It might be assumed from this scenario that Lord Reidhaven wasn’t exiled to New Zealand, but chose to be there.

Watkin had a penchant for molesting women which resulted in him having to leave England and Bertha had a very difficult time with him. Watkin first got into trouble in England and was sent abroad by his family to evade prosecution. He went to Ceylon as a “Remittance Man”. He got a monthly cheque from his family to stay away. However he soon got into trouble with young girls and was deported from Ceylon.

He ended up in New Zealand where he worked for New Zealand Railways for the rest of his life.

1885 – Suicide from poisoning (arsenic) age 22. He was the son of a wealthy chemist residing 12 miles outside of Prague. Taroslav was educated to continue his father’s business. However, at age 15 he joined the country’s socialist party, became a leader, and was imprisoned. After this, he was banned from participating in his father’s business by the Government, who were worried he would poison politicans and Jews.

Taroslav ’emigrated’ to New Zealand with the promise that money would be sent over to him. Whether any funds made their way to him is not clear, however he was writing ‘valueless cheques’ in the weeks leading up to his suicide. A friend of Taroslav wrote to a New Zealand paper, explaining his friend’s plight.

Addicted to methylated spirits and ink, and this is what killed him, age 60. He had a wife back in England. Had previously been treated on Rotoroa Island for alcoholism and appears in the NZ press regularly from 1908 onwards, for being drunk and disorderly.

Born in 1864 in Warminster, Wiltshire, England to Edward Spreckley and Elizabeth (nee Shadwell). Frederick’s father was a draper who, in 1881, is listed as a ‘temperance hotel keeper’.\

In 1889, Frederick is in Sydney, Australia, and marries Mabel Kate Read. In November 1903, Mabel files for, and obtains, a divorce on the grounds of desertion and drunkedness.

In 1907, Frederick, was found dead on Rangitoto Island, the manner of his death could not be ascertained although, despite his body being in the water, drowning was ruled out. Frederick had been working as a book-keeper and watchman on the auxiliary schooner Kaeo. The last person to see him, a pawnbroker from whom he collected some jewellry, said he was drunk.

Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire on 7th May 1864. The only son of a Barrister, Alfred Stanfield. He went to Oxford University and became a solicitor. In 1899 he married Evelyn Constance Ambler. In 1911, the year of Arthur’s death in jail in New Zealand, his wife is listed as living in Wealdstone, Middx, with their two 7 year old sons Dennis Percival Stanfield (who died on military service in South Africa) and Phillip Crochley Stanfield (who went to become a well-known botanist in Nigeria, awarded an MBE). What could have made Arthur leave his family for New Zealand, and having had a successful law career and family, living in a nice house with servants, died of drink while incarcerated?

I received information about Phillip C B Stretton from a blog reader who writes:

My great grandfather, Phillip Cecil Bradyll Stretton born in 1876 in Kidderminster in England, was a Remittance Man sent to New Zealand by his family. His father was a well respected, wealthy surgeon and it appears Phillip’s brothers were also doctors. Sadly my great grandfather didn’t measure up and was sent here when he was only about 15. He worked on a farm somewhere near Hawera and soon moved to another farm at Riverlea where he proved to be a good worker and ended up eventually owning the farm. He married and had 3 sons and died in 1959 in Eltham at the age of 83.

It seems Phillip made the most of his new life in New Zealand and mended his unruly ways. I often wonder what he would have become if his parents had had a little more patience with a young teenage boy and gave him time to mature. Times were different then I know, and my mum says Phillip was very happy being a farmer.”

Henry Fleetwood Tonge was born to Royal Naval Captain Louis Charles Henry Tonge and Charlotte Augusta (nee Pellew) on 18 May, 1860 in Great Malvern, Worcestershire. He was baptised on 17 June the same year. Henry’s family was well-off and landed gentry in Worcestershire in the 1861 UK Census. Captain Louis Tonge’s family owned the Highway Estate in Calne. Henry had an older brother, Francis Henry Tonge (b. 1856) and sister, Ethel Mary Tonge (b. 1857).

On 27 June 1883, at the age of just 23, Henry’s body was found with a gunshot wound to the chest, his revolver at his feet, in Hagley Park, Christchurch. His death was ruled a suicide.

Earlier arrested for passing ‘valueless cheques’ in New Zealand. Percy also made it into the Australian newspapers using an alias “Viscount Douglas Carnegie” when he was again arrested for using false cheques to buy flowers to present to ladies at the Opera House in Melbourne.

Known as Nat, he was the son of a British politician, eventually exiled to New Zealand by his father who was fed up of paying his son’s gambling debts. Find out more on the Waihi Arts Centre and Museum blog.

(c.1851–1886) An officer in the British army before he came to New Zealand as a remittance man, reputedly in a “military sketching department” in the Sudan. Made watercolour sketches of landscapes round Auckland. Died in Auckland.

Hi , My great-great-grandfather William Stewart Lindsay (1849-1924) living in Timaru in 1880 was a remittance man. He probably wouldn’t like to admit it though! He was the only child to William Shaw Lindsay (1815-1877) who was a shipping magnate in the 1960s and lived in Shepperton Manor in England. His son William Stewart Lindsay married and divorced soon after and spent his inheritance and his father sent him to NZ where he was sent a monthly remittance.

Hi George John Fisher was my great grandfather, contrary to what the family history says George his parents and siblings did not have any direct connection to Walton Hall , the building, I have researched this as have other members of the family and we have all reached the same answer , they lived at 29 Bentley Road Doncaster in 1841 and 1851 and had 200 acres of land and in 1861 at 84 Bentley Road and had 339 acres of land , in both cases employing servants , labourers , milk maids ect . These properties could have been at some time part of the Walton Hall Estate is where I think the story or assumption has come from that they lived in Walton Hall Cheers Lew

Very interesting. My father often spoke of different remittance men he had met over the years. He was a drover and stockman prior to WW11 and drove a truck on the Paraparas between Whanganui and Raetahi post war. It was during these times that he came into contact with them. I have mentioned the subject in conversation with several people and no one has any inkling of what I am talking about. A great bit of NZ history that has been forgotten. My mother also talks about the swagmen around during her youth (She is 91) and how they would turn up asking to cut the wood or do other chores around the property in return for a place to sleep (usually the shed) and a meal. No doubt some of these were remittance men also. A major effort on your part tracking down the names.
Kind regards. Peter McAlley

Thanks Peter, yes it’s surprising how little is known about Remittance Men, and few people know of their existence. I agree with you that some of swagmen were also possibly Remittance Men, doing what they could to try to make ends meet. They were so unprepared to be self-sufficient and few could turn their hands to the types of work available to them… many would work gumdigging or on various infrastructure projects doing hard labour, but few would have been able to survive long in this sort of environment. Greek, Latin and manners didn’t equip them for a life of a colonial labourer. Many thanks for your comments

Hi there, what an interesting site you have here. There is reason to believe that my great grandfather was a remittance man. His name was either Ernest Hassell LAWRENCE or Edward Ernest LAWRENCE. He was born about 1860 in England and came to New Zealand somewhere about 1887-1889. He lived in the Manawatu region working in agricultural type positions and had occasional scrapes with the law.